Families and households- Cohabitation Flashcards
What is cohabbitation?
An unmarried couple in a sexual relationship living together
Why do people cohabit?
-Alternative to marrige
-Trial before marrige
Why do people choose to marry?
-Legal protection
-More acceptable to have asexual relationships/children
-Social norm
-More committed
What are the reasons for the decline of marriage and growing cohabitation?
-Changing role of women
-Reduced functions of the family
-Changing social attitudes and reduced social stigma
-Secularisation
-Rising divorce rate
Why is the changing role of women leading to increased cohabitation?
-Growing economic independence and more freedom in relationships
-Women are more successful in education than men
-Women now have their careers so can manage their own finances
-Women’s expectations of life and marriage have
increased
-Statistics show that women in cohabiting relationships do less housework
Why are changing social attitudes and reduced social stigma leading to increased cohabitation?
-Young people are more likely to cohabit with older people
-Society is more secular
Why is secularisation leading to increased cohabitation?
-Cohabitation used to be condemned as it was a sin
-More of an individual and practical choice
Why is the rising divorce rate leading to increased cohabitation?
-Many people do not want to give marriage a 2nd chance
Why are reduced functions of the family of women leading to increased cohabitation?
-Marriage is less of a practical necessity
What does Beck (1992) argue?
-We live in a risk society
-Individuals are less constrained by traditional social structures such as the family
-Cohabitation involves less commitment demanded by social norms
-People avoid the risk involved with long term marrige
What are the advantages of cohabitation?
-Not bound together by legal documents
-More equal, less patriarchal
-Easier to leave
-Cheaper
What are the disadvantages of cohabitation?
-Not legally bound
-Fewer rights than being married
-Different rights for your children
What are the advantages of marriage?
-More legal protection
-Official documents
-Legally recognised by govt
-More socially accepted
-More financially stable-joint bank accounts
What are the disadvantages of marriage?
-More difficult to leave
Which theory is against cohabitation?
-New right
